Crowdsourcing and Human Computation

Overview

Human computation incorporates human intelligence into algorithmic processes. It is, at its core, the study of structured work. While workflow, process management, and organizational theory has been developed in great depth previously, the introduction of computer science and computational theory has given us a new lens through which to view organized human efforts, and combine it with the efforts of automated systems. Crowdsourcing — the practice of making an open call to a group of workers to complete a task, often through social computing channels — has created the opportunity to create large-scale human computation systems that are far more capable than current automated systems, but are still available on-demand, at a moment’s notice. At Michigan, we are advancing the frontiers of what can be accomplished with human computation and crowdsourcing: exploring how to create systems that respond intelligently, in real-time, and with consistency over time.